The invention lies in the field of conveyor technology and relates to a method and to a device according to the preambles of the respective, independent claims. The method and the device serve for creating a unified printed product flow from two fed printed product flows (feed flows).
It is known to unify two fed printed product flows, which arise, for example, on separating two-ups, into a single printed product flow, by way of conveying the fed printed product flows parallel to one another and next to one another, but at two different levels, and by way of pushing the printed products of the higher conveyed flow for unification laterally onto the printed products of the lower conveyed flow for the unification. Devices, with which supplied printed product flows are unified into a single printed product flow in the mentioned way and manner, are for example, described in the publications GB-2025907 and EP-1277684. According to GB-2025907, the unified printed product flow continues the lower conveyed feed flow in a straight-lined manner, and further unifications follow the first unification, wherein for this, the printed products of the further feed flows are laterally displaced over a further path. According to EP-1277684, the unified printed product flow has a direction which is rotated by 90° with respect to the feed flows, and the printed products of the feed flows are deposited onto one another in an alternating manner and overlapping one another, in a manner such that the unified printed product flow is an imbricate flow. The advantage of the printed product flow unification by way of a parallel feed at different levels, and by way of lateral displacement of the printed products fed at a higher level, is the simplicity of the devices which are required for this. The disadvantage of this lies in the fact that the printed products fall from the higher to the lower level in an essentially unguided manner, and by way of this, one may not achieve a very accurate alignment of the printed products which are applied on one another, in the unified printed product flow. For this reason, an additional alignment of the printed products after the unification must be provided where there are high demands with regard to this accuracy.
A device for the unification of two fed printed product flows is described in the publication EP-01277684, with which greater accuracies with regard to the alignment of the printed products in the unified printed product flow may be achieved. According to this publication, the one of the feed flows is led in a conveyor path loop over the other feed flow, and each printed product conveyed through the loop is deposited onto a printed product transported therebelow on the non-looped conveyor path. The device necessary for the looping method is evidently significantly more complicated and, thus, more expensive compared to devices for the unification methods by way of lateral displacement, as are described further above.
A method is described in the publication EP-155633, with which two fed imbricate flows are unified into a single imbricate flow, wherein in the unified imbricate flow, each imbrication consists of two printed products applied onto one another, in each case one from each fed printed product flow. The fed imbricate flows taper to one another at an acute angle, so that the products of the two flows meet one another in each case at a corner. Thereby, the leading corner of the products of the one flow, and the edge following this corner are pressed downwards, so that the corner of the respective product of the other flow is introduced between the products of the one flow. By way of the leading-together at an acute angle, the products of the two imbricate flows are pushed into one another and finally are aligned to one another by way of lateral guides.